Girl Meets Boy
by Ebony Feathers
Summary: Lucy is the new farmer in town. When she meets the prickly Shane, she can't help but try to figure him out... Will she succeed? OC x Shane
1. A New Life

I. A New Life

She woke up to the sound of birds chirping, and to the warmth of a ray of sunlight on her cheek. The simple sensations were so far removed from that of waking up in the city-the incessant sound of honking cars and the occasional drip of water from the leaky pipe overhead. Shaking her head, she smiled. _So it wasn't a dream_ she thought. She really was in Stardew Valley.

Suddenly energized, she jumped out of bed and took a bath, then dressed herself. She'd only brought the clothes she thought would work well on a farm, and pulled on a plain shirt and jeans. She grinned back at herself in the mirror.

As she stepped out the door, the vast, unruly wildness of the farm stared back at her. She set her teeth. _This is gonna be a lot of work..._ She sighed and rolled her sleeves up.

As she chopped down trees and tilled the soil, she marveled at how much she enjoyed doing the work. It was hard, but at least she felt alive. She thought of yesterday, when the mayor and the funny carpenter had welcomed her to town. Mayor Lewis and Carpenter Robin. "She was right, that creaky house could use a face lift," she mumbled to herself.

Straightening up, she surveyed her work. The ground was nicely tilled, and a fair amount of trees had been chopped down. All the soil needed was seeds... The thought of going into town for the first time scared her a little. In a town this small, she was sure news would travel fast. She wondered whether they would resent a newcomer from the city. Would they think she was just a townie who was moving in on their territory or something. She sighed. Overthinking was a special skill of hers.

As she walked towards town, she took out a list of names that Mayor Lewis had given her. "Something to help you get acquainted with everyone in Pelican Town," he'd said as he handed her the piece of paper. She squinted up at the building she was in front of. Pierre's. That was one of the names on her list. Breathing in, she pushed the door open.

It was quiet in there. She'd expected some kind of quiet hubbub, like the one you'd get in a supermarket, but there was this comfortable sound of silence.

"Hello, farmer!" At this, she finally noticed the guy behind the counter. He wore glasses and peered at her like a friendly owl. She walked up to him and shook the hand he was offLucyg. At the simple greeting, and the handshake, her fears of not fitting in melted away.

"Hey, my name's Lucy. It's so nice to meet you!" Okay, she might have pumped his hand a little _too_ enthusiastically, but he was smiling back at her so it must be okay. A few minutes later, after careful discussion with Pierre about the attribute of each spring crop, she left the general store with a few packets of seeds and a smile on her face. She'd met three townspeople so far, and they were all very nice. She hoped the rest of the people in Pelican Town would be as nice as Mayor Lewis and Robin and Pierre were.

It was seven in the evening, and she had just finished watLucyg her newly-planted seeds. The sun had set, leaving behind a trace of its warmth in the spring air. She breathed in the scent of the soil, the sweet smell of newly cut grass. For the hundredth time that day, she smiled. Life was going great. She went to sleep to the sound of leaves rustling in the gentle spring breeze.


	2. Exceptions to the Rule

I. A New Life

She woke up to the sound of birds chirping, and to the warmth of a ray of sunlight on her cheek. The simple sensations were so far removed from that of waking up in the city-the incessant sound of honking cars and the occasional drip of water from the leaky pipe overhead. Shaking her head, she smiled. _So it wasn't a dream_ she thought. She really was in Stardew Valley.

Sudden energized, she jumped out of bed and took a bath, then dressed herself. She'd only brought the clothes she thought would work well on a farm, and pulled on a plain shirt and jeans. She grinned back at herself in the mirror.

As she stepped out the door, the vast, unruly wildness of the farm stared back at her. She set her teeth. _This is gonna be a lot of work..._ She sighed and rolled her sleeves up.

As she chopped down trees and tilled the soil, she marveled at how much she enjoyed doing the work. It was hard, but at least she felt alive. She thought of yesterday, when the mayor and the funny carpenter had welcomed her to town. Mayor Lewis and Carpenter Robin. "She was right, that creaky house could use a face lift," she mumbled to herself.

Straightening up, she surveyed her work. The ground was nicely tilled, and a fair amount of trees had been chopped down. All the soil needed was seeds... The thought of going into town for the first time scared her a little. In a town this small, she was sure news would travel fast. She wondered whether they would resent a newcomer from the city. Would they think she was just a townie who was moving in on their territory or something. She sighed. Overthinking was a special skill of hers.

As she walked towards town, she took out a list of names that Mayor Lewis had given her. "Something to help you get acquainted with everyone in Pelican Town," he'd said as he handed her the piece of paper. She squinted up at the building she was in front of. Pierre's. That was one of the names on her list. Breathing in, she pushed the door open.

It was quiet in there. She'd expected some kind of quiet hubbub, like the one you'd get in a supermarket, but there was this comfortable sound of silence.

"Hello, farmer!" At this, she finally noticed the guy behind the counter. He wore glasses and peered at her like a friendly owl. She walked up to him and shook the hand he was offLucyg. At the simple greeting, and the handshake, her fears of not fitting in melted away.

"Hey, my name's Lucy. It's so nice to meet you!" Okay, she might have pumped his hand a little _too_ enthusiastically, but he was smiling back at her so it must be okay. A few minutes later, after careful discussion with Pierre about the attribute of each spring crop, she left the general store with a few packets of seeds and a smile on her face. She'd met three townspeople so far, and they were all very nice. She hoped the rest of the people in Pelican Town would be as nice as Mayor Lewis and Robin and Pierre were.

It was seven in the evening, and she had just finished watLucyg her newly-planted seeds. The sun had set, leaving behind a trace of its warmth in the spring air. She breathed in the scent of the soil, the sweet smell of newly cut grass. For the hundredth time that day, she smiled. Life was going great. She went to sleep to the sound of leaves rustling in the gentle spring breeze.


	3. House Visits

A/N aka Author's Ramble: Sorry it's been a little slow, but I wanted to establish Lucy's character a little more. She meets more people here... And Shane. I'm so excited about the new update. I was initially a Sebastian fangirl, but after the first heart event with Shane, I thought it was kinda sad that he wasn't a marriage candidate. But now he is!

* * *

III. House Visits

The next day, after the usual farm duties were done, Lucy decided to cross the rest of the names off her list. House visits would be in order, she thought. She gulped. In the city, she didn't even know who her apartment neighbors were. Here in Pelican Town, it was the norm to know everyone in town. _Hey, it went well with_ most _of the people I've met, right?_ She frowned as she thought of the grumpy guy from yesterday.

Lucy remembered Maru's offer. It might be time to take her up on it...

After trudging up the mountain road, Lucy took a breather and looked at the beautiful house in front of her. If the house was any indication of Robin's skill, she was _definitely_ going to her for upgrades. 24 Mountain Road was a beautiful structure, with a telescope out back and an unusual yet appealing shape.

She knocked on the door and went in. "Oh hey, Lucy!" Robin greeted her. "Here for an upgrade?"

Lucy shook her head, a little embarrassed. "Well, I'd have to bring in my first crop first," she said. Robin looked at her knowingly.

"It's fine, I was just kidding. You don't have to buy something every time you go here," she said. "Did you meet everyone in town yet?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, but it says in the list here-" she unfolded the piece of paper from her pants pocket "-that Demetrius and Sebastian live here. I haven't met them yet."

"Did someone say my name?" A tall, striking man in a blue shirt walked in from the next room. "I'm Demetrius," he said, smiling at Lucy.

"Hey," Lucy said. "I'm Lucy."

"So I've heard," Demetrius said, still smiling at her. "Robin told me about you." He glanced towards the room he came from. "Sorry, Lucy, but I have to go check on my experiment. Maru's watching an experiment of hers, too, so I'm sorry she can't meet you, either."

"Oh, I've met her already," Lucy said. With a final handshake, Demetrius exited the room.

Robin peered at the list. "Sebby's out with his friends," Robin informed her. "He's probably at Sam's house." Lucy ran through the catalog of names she had in her head.

"Sam? Jodi's son?"

Robin nodded. "That's the one. Have you met Sam yet?"

"Nope," Lucy said, shaking her head.

"It's not going to be of any use going to see those while they're having one of their 'jam sessions'" Robin said, chuckling. "How about going to the tavern this evening? You're bound to meet a lot of people there later."

Lucy nodded. "I just might do that. Thanks a lot, Robin!"

* * *

It was still a few hours shy of evening, and she decided to visit one more house. 1 River Road, with George, Evelyn, and Alex. She knocked on the door, and a white-haired woman opened it.

"Hello, dear! Are you the new farmer?" The elderly lady smiled near-sightedly at her. Lucy nodded.

"Well, come on in! How nice of you to pay us a visit." The lady, whom Lucy took to be Evelyn, opened the door and motioned for her to come in. "George, the new farmer's here to see us!"

She came face-to-face with a man in a wheelchair. "Good afternoon, sir," Lucy stammered out. His grumpy face was a stark contrast to his wife's smiling one.

"Well, at least you're polite, unlike some of the young'uns around here," George grumbled.

"There now, George, just because they're young doesn't mean they're all impolite," Evelyn shushed him. She smiled at Lucy. "He's a little prickly, but he's really a nice guy, my George is." Lucy smiled back at the woman, immediately liking her.

"Have you met our grandson, Alex?" Evelyn asked her. George had gone back to watching the television.

"No, I haven't. I've been hoping I could meet him here," Lucy said, smoothing out her list of names.

"He's probably out on the beach, or practicing with his ball," Evelyn said.

George snorted. "That boy will end up like his father, I tell you! Playing ball and lifting weights all day-I wish he'd lift his books more!"

Evelyn sighed. "He's not a bad boy, really," she said, her gently eyes looking with appeal at Lucy.

"I'm sure I'll get along with him," Lucy said. Noticing Evelyn's distress at George's sudden outburst, she made her goodbyes.

As she walked out the door, a ball whooshed towards her. With reflexes that were honed from playing softball in her high school team from years back, she caught it.

"Hey, nice catch!" A brown-haired boy jogged towards her. "Where'd you learn to catch like that?"

Lucy grinned at him. "High school softball."

He offered his hand. "I'm Alex. You must be farmer girl?"

"Yep, I am," she said, taking his hand and shaking it. "Nice to meet you."

"Can't stay to chat, I need to do my evening workout. See ya!" With a wink, he entered the door she just came through. He was such a dynamic personality compared to his grandparents that Lucy couldn't help but chuckle. Staying with the Grumpy George didn't dampen his grandson's spirit. _Welp, one more name off my list_ , she thought as she crossed off Alex' name. _With any luck, the tavern would complete my list tonight_ , Lucy thought as she pushed the door open.

* * *

The Stardrop Saloon was a lovely place. As she stepped in, she inhaled the aroma of home-cooked food and took in the sound of the jukebox in the corner. The guy behind the counter hailed her immediately, and was acquainted with a lot of people in a short span of time. Finally, the smell of food and the realization that lunch was hours ago hit her and she sat at the counter. "Gus, some bread and spaghetti, please," she said, and Gus rang her order up. Sitting back in her chair, she sighed contentedly. At the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of blue. Joja Mart blue.

Huh. It was the guy from yesterday, the snarly one. As Emily set her platter of spaghetti down in front of her, Lucy gestured towards the guy, asking "Who's he?"

Emily carefully placed a sprig of parsley on top of the steaming pasta. "Oh, that's Shane. He and Clint," she nodded towards the blacksmith sitting on the table near the door, "are our regulars."

"Oh," Lucy said. Not very enlightening, but as Emily was waitressing, she didn't bother her anymore. From her perch on the stool, she cast another glance at Shane. The unkempt appearance and frown were still there. Still, Lucy thought he looked kind of lonely there by the fire, nursing a beer away from everyone else in the saloon. As she looked around the room, all she could see were smiles, and Shane was the only one who didn't look like he was having any fun at all.

 _Maybe he just wasn't in the mood yesterday._ Forking the last bit of spaghetti into her mouth, Lucy stood up and walked over to Shane.

She cleared her throat. "Um, hey there," she said, looking at Shane.

He slowly raised his eyes from the beer he was eyeing. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say hi." As his frown grew deeper, she hurried to add, "And that I'm sorry if I took you by surprise or anything yesterday."

"Can you just leave me alone?" he asked, gulping the last of his beer down. "One more beer, Gus!" he yelled out, waving his mug up high.

Lucy saw her chance to make the guy warm up to her. "I'm paying for him," she said as Emily handed the new mug to Shane, and gave the blue-haired girl the gold before Shane could argue. Emily winked at Lucy over Shane's splutters that he won't let a stranger pay for him, and walked away.

"Consider that my greeting gift to you, or something," Lucy said, grinning a little at Shane's discomfort.


	4. Breakfast at Lucy's

IV. Breakfast at Lucy's

 _Paid for by a stranger or not, beer is beer,_ Shane thought as he drank the cold beverage. The girl in front of him had made herself at home in the spot that he considered his, leaning against the fireplace and grinning at him. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Why do you keep pestering me?" he asked.

"Hey, I just bought you a beer. Does that count as 'pestering'?" she asked, eyes glinting mischievously.

"Well, talking to a person when he doesn't want company _is_." He went back to drinking. As if taken aback by his words, or perhaps by the acerbic tone he'd said them in, the girl stepped back a little.

"I-I'm sorry. I guess...I guess I'll just go on my way," she said. Before he could recollect his thoughts, she was out the saloon door.

 _Great. I've offended another person. Then again, what's new?_ He looked down at the remains of the beer. _I'm glad I've got you, Mr. Beer_ , he thought as he downed the rest of the drink.

* * *

His head aching, Shane stumbled out of the bar as Gus held the door open for him. "You gonna be okay, Shane?" Gus asked. _Must be worried I'd sleep at the front of his tavern or something_ , Shane thought cynically.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," he said, attempting to walk straight. With a shrug, Gus shut the door and locked it. He made for the southwest path, the one he always took home because it was close to his Aunt Marnie's farm.

He'd been walking a while before he realized he wasn't in the Cindersap Forest. _What the hell_? he asked himself as he stepped on some grass. _Why is there such a lot of grass here?_ He took another step forward and collided with something soft, landing on his ass and yelling out as he clutched at thin air. _Oh Yoba, how his head ached-  
_ "W-who's there?"

 _What the..._

Then it hit him. He was in the old farm. And the girl approaching him with a torch in her hand was the one he'd chased off earlier. And here he was, on the ground with his head swimming with alcohol. The girl stood over him, one hand holding a pickaxe.

"Shane?" In the torchlight, he could see the confusion on her face. "What are you doing here?"

 _Yoba, why do things like this have to happen to me_. "Help me up, will you?" Lucy dropped her pickaxe and held her hand out, pulling him up with a strength that belied her frame.

"Are you okay...?" She asked. Shane was swaying a little, and muttering an unintelligible string of curses beneath his breath.

"Yeah, I am," he said. Lucy looked at him critically.

"No, you're not," she said, then blew her torch out.

"What the hell?!" Shane exclaimed. The only light came from the moon, which was partially shrouded by clouds. Lucy carefully tucked the torch in her belt, and went to his side at the exact moment that his legs decided to give way.

In his intoxicated daze, Shane felt her slinging his arm over her shoulder, as he tried to make his legs work and partially succeeded. Before he passed out, he smelled the scent of fennel seeds.

"Your hair smells nice," he heard himself saying before falling into an alcohol-induced sleep.

* * *

He woke up to the sound of birds chirping and the feeling of his head being cracked open.

He opened an eye. A window looking out at a farm greeted him. He looked around.

 _This is_ definitely _not my room,_ Shane thought. _Then where-_

The memory of last night hit him with the force of a bulldozer. He groaned. He was on the new girl's farm.

"Shane? Are you awake?" The girl strode through the door, her clothes smeared with grass stains and traces of soil. It was obvious that she'd been up _way_ before him. And he was on her bed-

"Holy crap!" he said, jumping out of the bed. "I _slept_ on your _bed?_ " he asked.

Lucy grinned at him. "You sure did."

"But-but-" he stuttered out. He wasn't sure what he felt more-embarrassment at being an unwelcome guest at this girl's house, or anger at himself for letting himself become too drunk to come home.

"It's fine-I already passed by Marnie's ranch and told her where you were." Lucy raised an eyebrow at him. "Want some breakfast? I made a quick one for the both of us. Figured you could use it."

As they sat at her small dining room-which was really just a table set up in the middle of the dilapidated farmhouse-he sneaked a glance at her. She was attacking her omelets with a healthy appetite. Then again, she'd been working for at least an hour by now.

He wondered why she was being so nice to him. Hell, 'nice' didn't even begin to describe how she was to him. Add that to the fact that he'd been downright rude to her since they met...

"What do you want from me?" he said abruptly.

"Huh?" The question caught Lucy off-guard. She had just finished eating her breakfast.

"I mean-why are you doing all this for me?" he asked.

She shrugged. "We're neighbors, aren't we? 'Sides, I can't have you lying around on my farm. Although Yoba knows I could use another scarecrow to replace the one you ruined last night." He glanced up at her, but she was smiling.

He almost smiled back.


	5. Scarecrow

V. Scarecrow

Shane stocked the shelves with an automatic motion that he attributed to years of working in JojaMart. As he worked, he thought about his breakfast at Lucy's house. He'd left at about seven, his stomach warm with the omelet she'd cooked for him and the coffee she'd brewed.

 _Ugh, I hope Aunt Marnie doesn't start imagining that there's something between me and that newbie_ , he thought. He'd never stayed over at any of the other townspeople's houses, and certainly not with a girl. He snorted. What was he worrying about so much? He was never going anywhere near that farm again. Not if he could help it.

"Shane, I hope we're doing our best here!" It was Morris, with his unctuous voice and fake smile. Everything about Morris seemed fake. Shane suspected that even his hair wasn't really black. Well, maybe it had been black once, but he was sure Morris was helping it along with dye. And he _hated_ it when Morris referred to him as "we".

"Yes, sir, I'm doing my best," he said, not even bothering to fake a smile. Morris looked at him suspiciously, then went on his way, making small talk with customers. Shane grimaced. Just a few more minutes of this drudgery and... Off again to the Saloon. His life felt like a cycle, a vicious one. One he couldn't get out of. Go to work, with Morris breathing down his neck. Stacking shelves like a mindless robot. Going to the bar and drowning the taste of disappointment in his life in the less strong taste of beer.

He sighed. At least there was still beer to look forward to.

* * *

The Saloon seemed the usual. There was the smell of food in the air, at which his stomach grumbled-he hadn't had lunch, to make up for being late for almost an hour that day. The omelet at the farm seemed ages away.

 _Hmm, beer or a hot meal_? He sighed. It was sad that he had to choose. Then again, if he wanted to forget the horrible day he'd just had, he absolutely had to have the beer. Plus, with some luck, he'd forget he was even hungry. He went up to the counter to order his beer. Maybe Marnie would have some leftover casseroles left in the fridge when he got home.

"Hey, it's farmer Lucy!" Gus bellowed out as he'd just rung up Shane's order. He wondered whether he should gulp the beer down as fast as he can and call it a night just to avoid her. He had no compulsion _at all_ to be reminded of his amazingly pathetic display of the night before. He turned away from the counter and stared at the fire, willing her to move away from him.

"Hey, Shane." Shane heaved a sigh. _Not my lucky day, eh?_

"If you don't want to talk, it's fine by me. I just wanted to see if you were fine." He looked at her. She didn't seem like she was making fun of him. Did she actually mean it...?

Lucy smiled. She was beginning to get used to his prickly attitude. "Well, that's all I really came here for. Enjoy your beer," she said, heading out towards the door. He watched as she walked away, her long hair swinging behind her.

He thought of how he'd ruined her scarecrow the night before and sighed heavily. As much as he'd hate to admit it, he did owe her one. Gulping his beer down in one draught, he rushed towards the door and stepped out. Lucy was walking up the town square, but stopped as she heard his footsteps behind her.

"Hey, Shane. Wanna walk home with me?" she asked. As if it was a natural occurrence for him to walk home with her.

He frowned at her. "About the scarecrow I ruined last night. Do you want me to fix it or something?"

She blinked at him. "No, it's fine. I made a few more earlier, so I'm good."

"Oh," he said, momentarily lost for words.

"Hey, I was kidding about the walking home thing. I know you stay until the bar closes." She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Go on, I really just passed by to see if you were doing okay."

 _How do I even reply to that?_ Shane thought.

"I don't need a nanny to look after me, you know." At those words, Lucy recoiled. He caught the hurt in her eyes. _Shit._

"Right. Sorry. Well, good night, then," she said, walking briskly off in the direction of the farm, leaving him standing below the streetlamp.

 _Whatever_ , Shane thought. _I'm the local asshole, right? She should know that by now._ He walked back to the Saloon. _Now I can get back to being hammered and not caring about anything or anyone else._

 _The way I am. The way I've always been._

* * *

Falling into bed in his rented room at Marnie's, his alcohol-addled brain wondered whether she really _had_ made a new scarecrow to replace the one he'd knocked down. "You know, Shane," he said, his words slurring, bleeding into one another. "You're like a scarecrow yourself. Except you scare people off." He chuckled at his aimless joke, and fell asleep.


	6. Thunderstorm

VI. Thunderstorm

Lucy had finally met all the people in Pelican Town, and was getting into the groove of farm life. She'd shipped her first batch of goods as soon as the cauliflowers were fully-grown, and felt like she'd passed the first hurdle as a farmer.

However, as she re-read the letter that had come in her mailbox in the first week of Spring, she frowned. _Mayor Lewis lost his shorts?_ She hadn't exactly had a lot of time for fulfilling requests, but now that she got down to them, she saw that there were plenty of requests that she could help out with. This one was weird, though. 'Discreet' was the operational word, and she planned to be discreet. She couldn't help wondering what this was all about, though. Did he go gallivanting off with his clothes spilling out of his pockets or something?

What the heck. She'd just file the request under her list of 'Things I'll Be On The Lookout For.' _I mean, I can't just go actively looking around for a pair of shorts, right?_

She shrugged and moved on to the next letter. It was from her dad, asking her how life was on the farm, and joking about how many chickens she already had. She sighed. She'd been saving up for a coop, and was looking forward to getting chickens from Marnie's farm. At the thought of Marnie's farm, Shane popped into her mind. Lucy sighed. She knew something was wrong with Shane, but she couldn't help being hurt by his coldness. His stand-offishness was a different league from Sebastian's, who Lucy figured was just sometimes anti-social. Shane, from what she could see, really had no friends at all. She thought back to that night she had half-dragged, half-carried him to the house. He'd seemed so forlorn, so full of drink that he didn't even care if he ended up on the ground. She definitely could sympathize with him. Working for Joja back in the city was mind-numbingly boring. She wondered whether Shane felt the same about his job.

The thought of buying chickens excited her. She was friends enough with Marnie to know that the woman wouldn't embarrass her if she "window-shopped" at her ranch. Lucy threw a clean shirt on-she'd been chopping trees near the broken-down building to the west of the farm-and set off towards Cindersap Forest.

* * *

"Oh, hello, Lucy!" Marnie beamed at her as she came in. Lucy smiled back.

"Hey, Marnie! Just here to look at your chickens." Marnie smiled at her kindly.

"Still saving up, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm getting a coop built soon, though, so maybe I could afford one these days." Lucy looked around at the cozy interior of the ranch. The smell of hay permeated the air, a comforting smell. She breathed in and smiled. "Would it be too much trouble if I ask you to let me look at your animals?"

"Actually, I was heading out to town to do a grocery run," Marnie said. "But-" she said, holding up a hand to stem Lucy's apologies, "Shane isn't working today, so he can give you the grand tour."

Before Lucy could tell Marnie that she was fine and not to bother Shane on her account, Marnie had gone up the hallway. She came back with a dour-looking Shane in tow.

"Shane, please show Lucy around the ranch, okay? I've got to go and buy some things to make dinner with later." With those words, and a smile directed at Lucy, Marnie exited the ranch.

 _This is awkward_ , Lucy thought. _Also, why isn't he working today?_

As if he'd read her mind, Shane said, "JojaMart's renovating the building. We get an unusual day off."

"Oh," Lucy said. It kinda made her feel worse that she was taking his time up. "I can come back another time. You could enjoy your break without me pestering you to show me around."

Shane raised an eyebrow at her. "I didn't say anything about you pestering me."

Lucy looked down. "I was kind of expecting it."

A heavy silence reigned between them.

Shane scratched at his chin. "Fine. Is this the part where I apologize for being rude?"

She looked up. "No-no-I wasn't fishing for an apology or anything-"

He held the door leading to the pens open. "Stop talking so much and let me give you a tour, okay?" She detected a hint of humor beneath his grumpy tone.

* * *

"And this concludes the end of our tour." Shane closed the gate of the goat pen behind him and looked at her. Lucy smiled. She'd felt at ease during the whole tour. It was like a whole new side of Shane-he'd been gentle with the animals, and talked as if he really knew them. _Well, yeah, he lives on this farm after all_ , she told herself.

"Would you... would you like a drink or something?" Shane looked at her, as if unsure of her reaction to his question.

The question took Lucy by surprise. "I don't drink beer," she blurted out.

He barked out a laugh. "Just because I drink beer at the Saloon all the time doesn't mean that's the only thing I ingest," he said. In a strange way, Lucy felt as if he was apologizing for his rudeness from before.

"Well, I'll have water, I guess," she said. Shane disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared with glass of water in one hand. At that exact moment, a loud boom of thunder sounded, followed by the sound of rain hitting the roof.

Lucy's eyes widened. "A thunderstorm! I have to get back to the farmhouse before it gets worse!"

Shane frowned at her. "Are you crazy, farm girl? It's already 'worse.' Can't you hear that thunder?" As if to affirm his words, thunder crashed again, and the rain intensified. "I guess Aunt Marnie won't be back anytime soon, either," he said to himself.

At that, the power went out.

"Oh, come on," Shane grumbled. "Say, do you have a torch with you or something?"

Lucy shook her head, then remembered that he couldn't see her in the near pitch-black room. "Nah."

"Tsk," Shane said. "I have a battery-operated lamp in my room. Do you want to hang out there or something while waiting for the storm to pass or for the electricity to go back on?"

Lucy's eyes widened. He was actually being friendly to her! "Sure," she said. "Lead the way."


	7. In Which Shane Smiles Back

VII. In Which Shane Smiles Back

He managed to find the lamp and turn it on. She was sitting on the floor, next to his console, looking through his game collection. "Hey, you have a pretty decent collection here," she said.

"Yeah, I bought it all in the city," he mumbled. He wondered what had come into his mind when he suggested that they hang out in his room. Then again, he couldn't have sent her out in the raging storm by herself. There were limits to his being an asshole, Shane admitted to himself.

"Well, thanks for letting me stay here," she said, breaking the silence between them. From his perch on the bed, he looked down at her smiling face.

"You're welcome," he said. He wasn't used to this much casual conversation. He suddenly regretted letting her in his room. Why couldn't he have suggested that he bring his stupid lamp to the ranch's lobby and let her wait the storm out there?

 _Because you still owe her for letting you stay at her place when you were hammered,_ his inner voice reminded him. Oh, right.

"Hey, Shane?" Lucy asked, a tentative note in her voice.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Am I bothering you by being here?"

 _Tsk_. "No, it's fine."

A few more minutes of silence ensued. He was feeling the call of alcohol withdrawal. By this time, he should have downed at least one mug of beer at the Saloon. A thump drew him out of his thoughts. Lucy had fallen asleep on the floor.

 _What the hell_. Fell right asleep, and it was barely five PM. Then again, with her hard work at the farm, she must be pretty exhausted. Shane frowned at the figure on the floor. He couldn't just leave her there. With a sigh, he knelt down and picked her up. She was surprisingly light. Her head rested against his shoulder as he made the very short trip from the floor to his bed. He breathed in the scent of fennel and got the sudden urge to bury his nose in her hair.

With a start, he laid her down onto the bed. "That was fucking creepy of you, Shane," he mumbled to himself. Lucy stirred a little on the bed, and he clamped his mouth shut.

Her hair spilled out onto the pillows, long strands of pink standing out against the bedspread. Her hair was kind of pretty, he thought, like bubblegum. He leaned in a little closer-he couldn't help it, he wanted to catch a whiff of her hair again-and found himself looking eye-to-eye with an awake Lucy.

"Was I out for long?" she asked. She didn't even seem freaked out by the fact that Shane's face was just a hands-length away from hers. He quickly drew back from her.

Feeling his heart pounding, he shook his head. "N-no."

She blinked sleepily at him. "Am I on your bed?" she asked, and, seeing that he was standing up, extended an arm as if she was going to get up. "Hey, I could sleep on the floor if you're sleepy, too." Closing her eyes again, she mumbled, "Like the time I did when I took you home." At that, she fell back asleep again.

Stunned, Shane stared at the sleeping form on his bed. _That's right, Shane, she gave her bed up to you when you were drunk. She couldn't very well have shared it with you, could she?_ At this, Yoba help him, his face flamed up. The thought of sharing a bed with her was...weirdly appealing to him. _Ugh. This is the effect of being single too long_ , he thought angrily to himself. _And being alcohol-free for more time than I'd care to be._

He desperately wished that he hadn't let her in his room. Or that the storm would just quit. Or that his aunt hadn't given him the job of touring Lucy around. Anything but this weird feeling. He wished he could just attribute it to the lack of alcohol in his belly, but he couldn't. He resigned himself to playing some Journey of the Prairie King. At least it would take his mind off things.

* * *

The storm stopped about an hour after the whole Lucy-in-his-bedroom debacle, as suddenly as it had arrived, and Shane couldn't thank Yoba enough for it. He'd been sitting on the floor and leaning against the bed, careful not to touch the sleeping girl at all.

"Hey," he said, shaking her shoulder a little. "Lucy, wake up."

She sat up a little groggily and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Wha-?"

"The rain's stopped. Want me to walk you home?"

She stared at him.

"What?" he asked, feeling uneasy. _Did she figure out that I was being a little creepy earlier?_

"Did I sleep on your bed all this time?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Well, yeah," he said.

"Oh Shane, I'm so sorry!" she cried out, jumping out of bed. "I didn't even know I was falling asleep-"

With an almost involuntary movement, he patted her head. "It's fine, farmer girl. Now lemme walk you home." He turned abruptly on his heel and walked out the door. Lucy trailed after him.

"Marnie still isn't back?" she asked as they walked out the door. Shane fumbled in his jacket, checking whether he had his keys with him, then locked the door.

"Yep," he said as walked up to the path leading to her farm. He stayed a little in front of her-he still felt weird about that hour in his room, and he didn't want her near him. _Then why the offer to walk her home, eh?_ Great. His inner voice had taken a snarky tone now.

Lucy was silent during the walk to the farm. When they got to her porch, she turned around and surprised him with a smile. "Thanks for today, Shane," she said.

And, Yoba help him, he smiled back.


	8. A Night on the Dock

VIII. "You ever feel like no matter what you do, you're going to fail?"

More than a week had passed since the power outage and her brief stay at Marnie's. Since then, Lucy hadn't seen Shane a lot. Then again, she rarely ventured out of town as she focused on tending to her crops and trying to tame the miniature forest that the farm had become in times of disuse. The good news was, she had finally had a coop made, thanks to the shipments of crops that she'd religiously taken care of in her first week. On that sunny Sunday, with the bulk of her work done, she thought she'd look through her letters and answer them.

Sorting through the letters of requests again, Lucy saw that she hadn't resolved the purple shorts one yet. She'd gone through _every_ request, but she just hadn't encountered any shorts, purple or not. Not that you could expect to see shorts just lying around town. _Well, Mayor Lewis will have to do without his shorts, then,_ she thought, dismissing it.

Seeing the letter her dad had sent her a week ago, the one where he joked about eating eggs, Lucy thought about buying a chick at last. Why not? She had a fair amount of gold right now, and it was still an hour before Marnie's shop closed.

Walking through Cindersap Forest, Lucy inhaled the scent of grass and the sweet air. It had never been this sweet-smelling in the city. Then again, she'd hardly ever gone out. Her job at Joja had left her too tired to go off and enjoy what the city had to offer. It was weird, she reflected, to think that she was working twice as hard on the farm, but didn't feel the fatigue that she had when she was working in an office cubicle. She smiled. Maybe farming was in her blood, after all.

"Hey, Marnie!" she called out as she opened the ranch's door.

"Lucy! What a nice surprise." Marnie dusted her hands on her dress. "What can I do for you today?"

"I'm here to buy my first chicken," Lucy said, unable to keep the excitement from her voice.

"Great!" Marnie said. After picking out a chick, Lucy paid the woman with gold. She cuddled the soft, warm chick against her chest.

"Remember, she needs to be fed with hay every day, or if you don't have a silo yet, just let her at some grass." Lucy nodded as Marnie rattled off details on how to take care of chicks.

"Well then, thanks for everything, Marnie," Lucy said as Marnie finally wound down. "I'm going back to the farm to put Cheepa in her new home."

At this, Marnie gave a start and exclaimed, "It's six PM? I promised Caroline I'd deliver her some hay for her chickens!" Marnie rushed into the adjoining room and emerged with a stack of hay in her arms. "Would you be a dear and lock up the shop for me? The animals are still in their pasture, I'm afraid. Oh dear, I've been such a scatterbrain today."

Lucy nodded. "Sure, it's the least I can do." At that, Marnie thanked her and bustled out the door, like a miniature, tomato-colored whirlwind with hay in her wake.

Alone in the ranch, Lucy headed towards the pens and herded the goats, pigs, cows, and sheep back to their respective barns. She'd put down little Cheepa in a basket in Marnie's room, and she went back to get her.

As she picked up the sleeping chick from its cozy basket, she caught a flash of purple in the corner of her eye. A piece of purple cloth was peeking out from underneath Marnie's bed. She tugged it out. _A pair of shorts!_

As she was processing this information, she heard the thump of footsteps on the ranch's wooden floor.

"Aunt Marnie?" Shane peeked in the door and raised an eyebrow at the sight of her. "What're you doing here?"

She frowned. "Buying a chicken. What are _you_ doing here? Don't you always spend every evening at the Saloon?"

He rumpled his hair, obviously pissed at the question. "Morris didn't give me my salary today, so I figured I'd just go home than just buy one beer and end up being even more dissatisfied."

"Oh," Lucy said.

Noticing the shorts in her hand, Shane motioned towards them. "What've you got there?"

Her eyes widened at the realization that she was still holding the shorts in her hand. "Well, uh..."

Shane held a hand up. "Let me guess. Mayor lost his shorts?"

Lucy almost dropped the shorts in surprise. "How did you know?"

He grinned, a slow, sardonic one that didn't have any mirth in it. "Just a lucky guess."

"Y-you mean-" she stuttered out.

He grinned even more. "Cat got your tongue, farm girl?"

Lucy blushed furiously. "I'm going home!" she said, shouldering her way past the grinning Shane. She didn't know why, but the thought of Marnie and Mayor Lewis...together... made her feel weird. Add that to Shane's teasing...

"Hey, hey, I was just teasing," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. As if he was surprised at his gesture too, he quickly removed it.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "So...they've been...?"

He blew a stray hair out of his face. "Yep."

"How do you know?" she knew it was none of her business, but she couldn't help it.

"Hey, my room is right next to my aunt's." While Lucy processed this information, he went up to her and stroked the sleeping Cheepa's head. "Hey there, little one," he said, his voice uncharacteristically gentle.

Lucy started. "Oh yeah, I have to get back home," she said.

"Want me to walk you home?" he asked, turning away a little from her.

"Sure. If it's not too much trouble," she said. _Wow, he's being really nice._

They carefully locked the door behind them and walked to the farm. As they approached the coop, she asked him to wait as she deposited Cheepa.

"She settle in okay?" Shane asked, once Cheepa was safely in the coop.

"Uh-huh," she nodded. It was growing dark, and she was feeling a little hungry. "Shane, want to have dinner or something?"

She'd taken him by surprise. Before he could refuse, she followed up with, "I even have some beer. Gus gave me some bottles of the stuff as a reward for completing a request of his."

He grinned a little, just the corners of his mouth lifting up slightly, but it was a grin nonetheless. "Fine. There's this spot at the lake that I go to sometimes. We could eat there."

* * *

After depositing the controversial shorts at the bottom of a chest in the house, Lucy set off with Shane. A basket of food was in her hand, while Shane was holding his beloved beer.

"Here we are," he said, as he stepped onto the dock. He walked to the end, and sat, his legs dangling over the edge. Lucy set her basket down and sat beside him.

They attacked the food hungrily, although Shane went through two bottles before he finished his first sandwich. They were silent, with just the song of the cicadas providing the only sound in the surrounding area.

Suddenly, Shane spoke. "Hey, Lucy?"

She looked over at him. His eyes were glazed with intoxication now, and she briefly wondered whether she was going to have to carry him back to Marnie's ranch. "Yeah?"

He leaned forward, looking down at the depths of the lake. "You ever feel like... no matter what you do, you're gonna fail?" He swirled the beer in his third bottle and drank it almost absentmindedly. "...Like you're stuck in some miserable abyss and you're so deep you can't even see the light of day?"

Lucy was taken aback. He seemed so hopeless, his tone so forlorn, that she wanted to offer him some comfort. _How, though?_

Shane looked at her. "Have you?" His words were slurred, but it didn't seem like he was waiting for an answer. "I just feel like no matter how hard I try... I'm not strong enough to climb out of that hole." He was still looking down at the lake, as if it was the abyss he was talking about.

Not knowing what else to do, she lightly laid her hand on his. "Shane...whatever it is, I'm here to listen to you, okay?"

He glanced at her, as if realizing that he wasn't alone. "Thanks." Shaking her hand off, he held up the empty bottle to his lips, trying to catch the last drops at the bottom.

After a long moment, Shane stood up, albeit a little shakily. "Guess it's time to go home," he said. "Thanks for the meal."

"You're welcome," Lucy said, standing up too. She noticed one more bottle of beer among the remains of their dinner. "Hey, do you want to bring this home with you?"

He chuckled a little. "Why don't you drink it, farm girl? It's yours after all."

She shrugged, then downed it all in one gulp. _Whoa._ The beer shot down her throat, burning its way down with its bitter taste.

Shane laughed a little more, catching sight of her alcohol-flushed cheeks. "All in one go, huh? Woman after my own heart." At that, he set off towards the direction of Marnie's farm, leaving her alone on the dock.


End file.
